Apparatus for casting metals.



Nu 784,023. PATEN'TED MAR. 1905t I. BARKER.

APPARATUS FOB, CASTING METALS.,

APPLmATIoN FILED MAY 9, 1190n llnTTn STATES Patented March l?, 1905.

PATENT Titien.,

APPARATUS FGF! CAS''ING. FWETLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,028, dated March'7, 1905.

Application iled May 9, 1904;. Serial N0. 207,047.

To fall wil/rmt il; 'nt/ty con/00771,;

Be it known that l, IRVING l-lAnknu, a citizen of the United States,residing' at Springlield, in the county of Sang'amon and State oflllinois, have invented a certain new and useful Apparatus for Casting'Metals, of which the following' is such a full, clear, and exactdescription as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappcrtains to make and use IO my said invention.

My invention relates to an apparatus for casting' metal articles-*suchas car-wheels, axleboxes, tem-and adapted for forming during theoperation of casting' straig'ht and smoothlylinished holes throughwheel-boxes, the hubs of wheels, guide-blocks, or other similar castmetal articles, and also for producing during the operation of castingflattened smoothlyfinished surfaces on the east article suitable 2O forthe contacting' surfaces of wearing parts or suitable for the fitting'of other parts on said cast article without the necessity for planing orotherwise preparing the surface of the cast article.

425 I will hereinafter describe the apparatus as employed in themanufacture of mine-car wheels; but obviously it may be advantageouslyused in making other and different articles---such as axle-boxes,pillow-blocks,

guide-blocks, &c.without departing' from my invention.

The purposes of my invention are to provide an apparatus whereby theinner surface of the hub of a wheel or other cast article,

poured in a melted condition around a mandrel of iron or other suitablematerial adapted to chill the interior of the hub or the interior of thepart contacting with the mandrel, may be cooled by cold water or othercooling medium applied within the mandrel, causing the latter tocontract, so that it may be easily withdrawn from the cast article; toprovide an apparatus adapted to produce a smooth finish of one or morefaces of the article, suitable for wearing-surfaces or suitable forconnecting' other parts with said articles, without the necessity forboring, planing, or otherwise finishing' said article, and to provide anapparatus which when employed in the casting of car-wheels or the likeis adapted to produce from a single 5o wheelpattern used with a singlemandrel wheels litting' on axles of ,litlerent lengths, measured fromoutside to outside of the cellars on the axles, without changing thewheelgage, measurcd fromthe outside of the flanges 5 5 of the wheels.

`With these ends in view my invention consists in an apparatusembodying' the means and appliance, hcrr-iinafter described, andparticularly recited in the claims. 6o

ln order that my invention may be clearly understood, it is necessary tobrielly describe the state of the art prior to my invention.

I am aware that tapering' sol id cast-iron mandrels have long' been usedfor the purpose of 65 chilling' molten metal poured around a taperingmandrel, so as to harden the inner surface of the metal comingin contactwith the mandrel; but such mandrels have always heretofore been madetapering' in order that they 7o may be driven out of the hub of thearticle.

rlhe use of a tapering mandrel necessarily produces a tapering' holethrough the article, and in the case of a rotating' article, such as awheel, necessitates the tapering' and linish- 75 ing' of the axle orspindle on which the wheel or other part runs to conform tothe taper ofthe mandrel.

The turning' and tapering of axles or spindles involves labor andexpense. Further- 8o more, it is found in practice that tapering axlesor spindles are objectionable on account oli' the tendency of therotating' part to run olli' the axle or spindle, thereby producing'unduewear and friction against the linch-pin or other de- 3 5 vice retaining'the rotating part on the axles or spindles.

Prior to my invention it has been found impracticable to produce a castwheel-hub having a straight and smooth inner surface or a castguide-block or axle-box or other similar article having' a straight andsmooth inner surface, because the shrinkage of the meta-l. around astraight solid mandrel binds and holds the casting' 'on the mandrel sotightly that the mandrel cannot be driven out of the casting withoutbattering' the mandrel to such extent as to render it unlit for futureuse.

In the manufacture of car-wheels having an oil-chamber and wheel-caps,also having in one end of' the hub a counterbore in which the collar onthe axle fits and at the other end of the hub a smooth fiat surfacerunning in contact with a linchpin, the practice has heretofore been tocast the wheel with fiat but not smooth surfaces at the ends of the huband on one face of the wheel and then plane or otherwise finish the flatsurfaces so that the cap may be accurately fitted thereon to preventleakage of oil from the oil-chamber and so as to present smooth surfacesat the ends of the hub in contact with the collar and the linchpin.rlhis procedure involves unnecessary labor and expense.

A prime purpose of my invention is to provide an apparatus adapted toovercome all of these difhculties and produce at a minimum cost a wheelor other article having a straight central hole through itshub or body,such that the wheel or other article will turn on a straight axle orspindle, or such that a straight shaft, either round or polygonal, asthe case may be, may fit closely and slide freely in the smooth-finishedhole through the cast article, and also to provide means adapted toproduce a wheel or other article having smooth contact-surfacescompletely finished during the operation of casting the article.

In casting a car-wheel having an oil-chamber and a cap l preferablyemploy the appliances shown in the drawings hereto annexed and to whichreference is hereby made; but other slightly-modified forms of theappliances obviously may be employed by those skilled in the art inmaking' wheels or boxes or other articles having straight bores or holesfinished smoothly duringthe operation of casting without departing frommy invention, it being essential only to employ a mandrel so constructedand arranged that a cooling medium may be applied within the mandrel tocause the cooling and shrinkage of the mandrel and the consequentchilling of the inner surface ofI the hub of the wheel or other article.

I illustrate in the drawings and will hereinafter describe a preferableform of the apparatus employed in the manufacture of a minecar wheelprovided with an oil-reservoir and a cap and having hubs smoothlyfinished at the ends.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a vertical axial section througha sand mold, showing a car-wheel and the center plate in position in themold and the mandrel in position in the hub of the wheel. Fig. 2 is adetached side elevation of the mandrel and the means for supplying acooling medium within the mandrel. Fig. 3 is a top plan of the centerplate supporting' the mandrel, and Fig. 4. is a horizontal section onthe line 4 4r of' Fig. l.

Similar reference-letters designate like parts in the several views.

The main structure of the wheel A may be of any usual and well-knownform and need not be particularly described.

The mandrel B is a straight and smoothlyfinished cylinder, preferably ofcast-iron, and has a central bore 7), within which a cooling medium maybe caused to circulate by means of a nozzle or equivalent deviceinserted in the central bore of the mandrel, as shown in Fig. 2 and ashereinafter explained. At one end of the mandrel is'a tapering hub 7)',which fits in a central tapering hole C in the plate C and supports themandrel in the mold in a vertical position relative to the plate. At theother end of the mandrel is an integral collar b2, which projects beyondthe periphery of the mandrel and serves to form the counterbore L in oneend of the hub of the wheel and has a fiat and smooth surface adapted togive a smooth finish to the bottom of the counterbore in the hub of thewheel.

The center plate C has a fiat and smooth surface which serves to flattenand smooth one face of the wheel and one end of the hub of the wheel. Italso has a central hole U, in which the tapering hub of the mandrelfits. It also has equidistant recesses Ci, adapted to receive lugs onthe cores employed in forming the central oil-chamber in the body of thehub.

The hole C/ and the recesses Ciof the plate C are so situated as toassure absolute accuracy in the setting of the mandrel B and the corea'.

Preliminary to casting a wheel the pattern of' the body of the wheel Ais placed in the drag of the fiask with the plate C centrally situatedabove the hub of the wheel-pattern. Sand is then tamped around thewheel-pattern and around the plate-G in the usual manner, and thepattern is then withdrawn and the mandrel inserted. The cope is thenprepared and secured on the fiask, and the melted metal, is poured inthe usual manner. The wall of the hollow mandrel being thin and itsouter surface being' smooth and its mass much less than the mass of thesurrounding molten metal the heat of the metal quickly expands themandrel before the melted metal sets, so that the inand rel produces asmoothly-finished hole in the metal slightly larger than the mandrel,and when the mandrel is quickly cooled while the metal is still hot themandrel shrinks and may be easily removed without injuring the mandrel.V hen the metal has set in the mold, the wheel is removed from the flaskwhile still hot. A pipe or hose D is then inserted in the open end ofthe mandrel, and cold water or other cooling medium is caused to flowinto the central chamber in the mandrel, thereby cooling the mandrel andcausing it to shrink so that the mandrel may be easily withdrawn fromthe hub. After the withdrawal of the mandrel the cooling medium may beapplied to the thick parts of the hub and the adjacent thick parts ofIthe spokes, so as to cool the central parts IOO IIO

remesa of the hub and spokes'su'liiciently to prevent breakage of thespokes by the too rapid cool ing ofthe rim of the wheel. The wheels arethen placed in an annealing-pit,where they cool gradually.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that by cooling andcontracting the mani d rel as described it is caused to shrink so thatit may be readily withdrawn from the wheel, and the smooth surface ofthe mandrel gives a smooth linish to the bore of the wheel, and the samemandrel may be used an indeiinite number of times.

By employing the center plate as described a [iat surface is obtained onone face of the central part of the wheel, against which the cap litsclosely, so as to prevent leakage of oil from theI oil-chamber.

it is found in practice with respect to wheels and axles designed to runon tracks of the same gage and having the same diameter of bore, alsohaving spindles of the same diameter, that there are oftenv materialdifferences in the length of the bore of the hub of the wheel, such thata set of wheels designed to run on one axle will not lit the track-gageif placed on another axle. Car-wheels are subject to hard usage, and itis frequently necessary to replace broken wheels differing as described.In making' such odd wheels prior to my invention it has been necessaryin each case to change the wheel-pattern in order t0 produce thenecessary change in the length of the bore of the hub of the wheel. Thisprocedure involves labor and expense. lf avoid this difficulty andproduce, by means of a single wheel-pattern used with a single mandrel,odd wheels having bores of different lengths and adapted to run on axlesof different lengths, measured from outside to outside of the collars onthe axles, without changing the wheelgage measured between the outsidesof the wheel-flanges. I accomplish this result by making a centralcounterbore C in the center plate (l. The counterbore Gis of a sizesuitable to accommodate that part of the hub of the wheel to be castaround the part of the mandrel next to the hub L'. By increasing ordiminishing the depth of the counterbore the depth to which the mandrelenters the plate C may be changed to suit the circumstances of eachparticular case. For example, if it is desired to cast a wheel having abore somewhat longer than the bore of the wheel shown in the drawings itwill only be necessary to increase the depth of the counter-bore C tothe desired extent, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. i, and then usea correspondingly-longer mandrel. On the other hand, if it is desired todecrease thelength of the bore of the wheel it will only be necessary todiminish the depth of the counterbore by inserting' washers C" orequivalent devices having smoothly-finished .fiat surfaces adapted togive a smooth finish to the end of the hub of the wheel. ln practice thelit variation in the lengths of the hub-bores is not large. rdinarily itdoes not exceed onequarter of an inch in a wheel.

By making the plates C of suitable thickness the depth of. thecounterbore C may be varied to meet the conditions without any materialchange in the body of the plate; but if deemed desirable differentplates (l, having' different counterbores Ul, may be used with the samemandrel, or mandrels of different lengths may be used with the samecenter plate without departing from my invention.

N hen the washers C" are employed, the mandrel enters the sand of thccope to a degree corresponding to the number of iashers used.

Having fully described my invention, what l claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

l. A mandrel for castingmetals, consisting of a straight hollow bodypart smoothly linished externally and having a central bore closed atone end and extending' practically the full length of said mandrel and astraLght` integral collar smoothly finished externally; in combinationwith a matrix and means for supporting said mandrel centrally in saidmatrix; said matrix and mandrel being' so constructed and arranged as toproduce at one casting an article having' a straight smoothlyfinishedbore and a straight smoothly-linished counterbore, as set forth.

2. ln an apparatus for casting metals, the combination of a matrix, acenter plate supported in said matrix and having a fiat smooth surface,and a central hole, a straight hollowv mandrel smoothly linishedexternally having' a part litting' in the central hole of said centerplate also having' a straight integral collar, the bore of said mandrelextending the full length of the article to be cast; said matrix, centerplate and mandrel being constructed and arranged to produce at onecasting' an article having' a smooth flat face, a smooth straight boreand a smooth straight counterbore, as set forth.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a matrix,a center plate supported in said matrix and having' recesses to receivethe lugs of a core, a core having' -lugs iitting in the recesses in saidcenter plate,

cident with a surface of said. matrix alsohaving recesses adapted toreceive the lugs of a core, a core having lugs litting in the recessesin said center plate, and a hollow mandrel fitting in the central holeof said center plate, as set forth.

5. in an apparatus of the class described,

the combination of a matrix, a center plate supported in said matrix andhavingl a central recess, means for varyingl the depth ot' the recess insaid center plate, and a mandrel central to said lcenter plate, as setforth.

6. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a matrix,a center plate supported in said matrix, and having a central recess ofvariable depth, said center plate also having recesses adapted toreceive the lugs of a core, a core having` lugs fitting in thelast-named recesses in said center plate, means for varying' the depthof the central recess of the center plate, and a hollow mandrel centralto said center plate, as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name, at Springfield,Illinois, this 5th day of May, 1904.

IRVING BAKKER. Titnessesz MAY F. RYAN, EMMA SHARP.

